Safety shackles

ABSTRACT

A combination shackle and line comprising a body, a closure member, and a shackle line connected to the body and extending therefrom. A latch is supported by the body for movement between a first position to hold the shackle closed, and a second position to allow the shackle to open. A latch release line is connected to the latch, and extends therefrom to pull the latch from the first to the second positions.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to safety shackles and snap clips having attachedsafety lines, life lines or the like which may be used for variouspurposes, including the attachment of life lines to yachts, theattachment of life rafts/boats to ships in danger of sinking, theattachment of safety lines in rock climbing and the attachment of loadsto cranes and other lifting devices.

Shackles for connecting life lines to the strong point on a yacht and/orfor connecting the life line to the safety harness of the crew membercommonly incorporate a quick-release mechanism in the form of a releasecatch having an axis of operation in the direction perpendicular to thedirection of load on the shackle. This arrangement is most undesirablesince the load applied to the shackle, being in a directionperpendicular to the direction of actuation of the release catch, oftencauses the release catch to jam thereby preventing release in what maybe a life or death situation. Another disadvantage with the knownrelease catch arrangement as used in snap clips and some snap shacklesis that the catch is usually located externally of the shackle and incertain circumstances the catch may be accidentally released by the lifeline or other external means, such as a projecting part of the yacht,once again with the possibility of disastrous consequences.

In addition to the above, since the release mechanism for the latch islocated near the strongpoint, it may be impossible for the crew memberrestrained by the life line to reach the release mechanism and thensucceed in taking the load off the life line in order to undo themechanism or snap clip, especially where the yacht sinks suddenly. Adisadvantage of simply relying on a release clip at the wearer's end ofthe life line is that this system only encourages detaching of the lifeline when the wearer wishes to move around the boat. This is of course amost undesirable situation.

Although shackles having release actions which are substantiallyparallel to the direction of the applied load and shackles havingremotely actuatable release mechanisms may be found in the literature,see for example U.K. Pat. No. 825575 Kjolner, French Patent PublicationNo. 2483791 Kaminski and U.S. Pat. Nos. 3493260 Smith and 4093293Huggett, none of the described shackles has found commercial applicationfor the uses outlined in greater detail above. The present inventorsbelieve this may be due to the fact that the release line for eachshackle is separate from the life line assembly and therefore createsthe possibility of entanglement and inadvertent release. Furthermore,the remote release shackles described in the literature referred toabove suffer from the disadvantage that they either require the shackleto be in a no-load condition for release or they require the releaseline to be in a taut condition. The latter problem is particularlyevident where the shackle is to be released when the release line is ina tangled condition which often occurs with life lines for yacht crewmembers. Still further, all of the remote release mechanisms are ofnecessity actuated along a line which is spaced from the line of appliedforce and this may lead to jamming of the release line and may preventthe use of swivel joints where appropriate.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In the light of the above described difficulties it is the object of thepresent invention to provide a shackle/line combination in which theabove described problems and shortcomings of the prior art are at leastsubstantially ameliorated.

The present invention provides a shackle comprising a body, a closuremember pivoted to the body, latch means holding the closure member inthe closed position, means for releasing said latch means to open saidclosure means, means connecting a line to the body, said latch meansbeing arranged so that the axis of its releasing action is at leastsubstantially coincident with the principal axis of the load to beapplied to the shackle by the line, characterised in that said lineincorporates a release line located in guidance means contained in orattached to the line, said release line having means at one end of theline attached to said releasing means and having means for enablingmanual actuation of the release line at the other end thereof, saidrelease line extending from said releasing means along a line which isat least closely parallel to the principal axis of load to be applied tothe shackle by the line.

The release line is preferably in the form of a Bowden Cable enclosedwithin the line. In one particularly preferred form, the line comprisesa tube of webbing within which the cable is enclosed, preferably withina flexible support hose anchored to the cable, which reduces thelikelihood of kinking in the cable.

In a preferred form of the invention, the latch comprises aspring-loaded detent to which an actuating pin is attached. The detentpreferably engages a bore formed in the closure member and thespring-loading is such as to maintain said detent in said bore in theabsence of actuation of the release means.

To enable manual actuation the pin is preferably formed with an enlargedflanged head which is manually grippable by the user's fingers foractuation to lift the pin to raise the detent out of its bore againstthe action of said spring-loading.

In another form of the invention, the release line is located in aguidance tube located centrally within a rope or wire serving as themain line. One end of the release line extends from the rope within aloop to which a harness or the like is attached while the other endextends from the other end of the rope and is attached to the latchrelease mechanism.

By suitably constructing the rope or line, the release line may belocated within a central cavity within the rope and defined by thestrands of the rope itself. In this case the guidance means is the ropeitself.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Several preferred embodiments of the invention will now be describedwith reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary sectional elevation of a shackle/linecombination embodying the invention;

FIG. 2 is an end elevation of the shackle/line combination of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a front elevation of a further shackle/line combinationembodying the invention;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary sectional elevation of a still furthershackle/line combination embodying the invention; and

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a pouch for housing the release ring at thewearer's end of the life line.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring firstly to FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings, the shackle will beseen to comprise a body 1 which is cast from a suitable material such asstainless steel or high strength reinforced plastics material, said bodyincluding a connector 2 to which a line L is securely attached.

The connector 2 is in the form of two connecting loops 3, 4 around whichend portions 5, 6 of a webbing tube 7 defining the life line L areattached by sewing or other suitable means. Loops 3, 4 extend from acentral body portion 8 from which a shackle leg 9 extends. A shackleclosure or tongue 10 is pivotally connected to the lower most end of theleg 9 by means of a hinge pin 11. The free end 12 of the tongue 10 isreceived in a recess 13 formed in the body 8 and the tongue 10 is formedwith a latching bore 14 which receives a latching detent 15 mounted in abore 16 located centrally in the body 8. The detent 15 is biased towardsengagement with the latching bore 14 by means of a spring 17 which bearsagainst a closure 17' fixed in the end of the bore 16. A release pin 18extends upwardly from the detent 15 and has a flanged head 19 by meansof which the detent 15 may be manually raised to release the tongue 10.

A release cable 20 is fastened to a connecting loop 21 on the head 19 toenable remote release of the detent 15. The release cable forms part ofa Bowden Cable 22 which has one end of its outer casing threadablyengaged with a threaded bore 23 in the connector body 2 between theloops 3 and 4. The Bowden Cable 22 extends upwardly from the connectorto enter the webbing tube 7 and is contained in a support hose 24 ofrubber or plastics material which reduces the likelihood of kinking inthe cable 22 and incidentally prevents kinking of the webbing tube 7defining the line L. The support hose 24 is anchored securely to theouter casing of the Bowden Cable 22 by means of a clamp (not shown).

The other end of the webbing tube 7 is fixed to a conventional snapshackle 25 which is adapted to be attached to the safety harness of thecrew member. The Bowden Cable 22 projects from the end of the webbingtube 7 and has a release ring 26 attached to the free end of the releasecable 20. In this way, the release line may be manually actuated by thecrew member to in turn release the detent 15 to allow disengagement ofthe tongue 10 from the strong point of the yacht or the like.

It will be appreciated that in practice the life line L may beapproximately three meters long and it may therefore be difficult, or insome cases impossible, for the crew member to reach the shackle at itspoint of attachment to the strong point of the boat. Where the boat issinking rapidly, the life line will be taut and the crew member will beunable to reach the shackle to release the life line. Thus, the presentinvention provides a means whereby the crew member may quickly releasethe life line from the strong point on the boat simply by grasping therelease ring 26 which is positioned adjacent to the point of attachmentof the life line to the safety harness of the crew member.Alternatively, release of the life line from the strong point may beachieved from a remote position even when the life line is in a slack,coiled or tangled condition. This is an additional safety feature as itprevents the need to make any move around the boat while not secured bythe life line. The support hose 24 prevents not only the Bowden Cable 22but also the webbing tube 7 from kinking and accordingly the releaseline 20 may be actuated irrespective of the condition of the life line1.

Because of the central positioning of the release detent 15 along themajor axis of the applied load, the detent is easily released even whenthe shackle is under heavy load. The remote releasability of the detent15 is also improved by the positioning of the release line 20 along theaxis of the applied load since the release force is directly applied tothe detent 15 by the release line 20. Furthermore, since the releaseline is contained within the body of the shackle and within the lifeline L, tangling and inadvertent actuation of the release line 20 isavoided. However, if desired, the detent 15 may be manually released bymeans of the flanged head 19.

Referring now to FIG. 3 of the drawings, a modified form of shackle,which is an adaption of a commercially available shackle (manufacturedby Wichard of France), is shown. In the drawing, similar primedreference numerals are used to indicate similar parts to those shown inFIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings.

In this embodiment, the webbing tube 7' is attached to a split baleconnector 2' as shown in FIG. 2. The bale is connected to the shacklebody 1' by a heavy rivet 31 around the collar of which the bale is freeto swivel. Through this rivet the end of the release cable 20' isconnected to a spring-loaded latching mechanism 15' which holds thetongue 10' of the shackle in its closed position until the latch isreleased by the line 20' or manually. The spring-loading is achieved byadjacent anchoring of the securing points for the spring system which isexternal to the shackle body 8'. Similar advantages flow from the use ofthe remote release line 20' and from the application of the releasingforce along the central axis of the shackle and of the life line L'.

Although not presently preferred, the webbing tube/Bowden Cablearrangement described above may be replaced by a specially made ropecontaining the release mechanism. For example, the rope may be woundaround a central tubular core of nylon or other suitable material whichin turn contains a small diameter release line such as a plastic coatedsteel cable or other line of suitable strength having a low co-efficientof friction at its surface. One such special line is shown in greaterdetail in FIG. 4 of the drawings and will be described in greater detailbelow.

In the embodiment of FIG. 4 of the drawings, the shackle 1" is similarto the shackle shown in FIG. 1 of the drawings and accordingly similardouble primed reference numerals are used to indicate the similar parts.The principal difference between this shackle and the shackle of FIGS. 1and 2 of the drawings is in the means for attaching the life line L" tothe shackle 1". It will be noted that the attaching loops of the shackleshown in FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings are replaced by a cavity 26awhich encloses a loop 27 formed in the end of a specially constructedrope 32 of the type described above. The cavity 26a includes a centralportion 28 which defines the inner portion of the cavity 26a and servesto support a threaded collar 29 which engages and restrains the centraltubular core 30 surrounding the release line 20", which is centrallycontained within the rope 32 and projects therefrom into the loop 27.The cavity 26a is configured to deflect laterally the loop 27 in therope 32 to avoid the release mechanism 15", 17" and 18". It will beappreciated that the housing of the loop 27 within the cavity 26aenables the core 30 to be extracted from the line 32 and secured inposition in the collar 29 so that the core 30 and the release line 20"are maintained coincident with the line of action of the detent 15"which in turn facilitates smooth actuation of the detent 15" and smoothrelease of the tongue 10" of the shackle 1".

It will be appreciated that under load, the life line L, L' and L",whether in the form of a webbing tube or in the form of a speciallyconstructed rope, will stretch under load and since the stretchcharacteristics of the line L will in most cases be substantiallydifferent to the stretch characteristics of the Bowden Cable, provisionshould be made to enable actuation of the remote release line 20 whenthe line L is in a stretched condition. An arrangement for overcomingthis problem is shown in FIG. 5 of the drawings from which it will benoted that the release ring 26 attached to the end of the release line20 is enclosed in a plastic pouch 35 into which the ring 26 is free tomove as the life line L stretches under load. The pouch 35 is secured bystitching to the webbing 7 and is formed with one or more lines ofweakness 36 along which the pouch 35 will split when the user's fingeris inserted into the pouch 35 to gain access to the ring 26. It will beappreciated that the pouch 35 also reduces the likelihood of inadvertentactuation of the release line 20 by the ring 26 snagging on a projectionor being actuated by a user who has fallen overboard and is holding theline while climbing or being pulled back aboard a boat.

What we claim is:
 1. A combination shackle and line comprising:a body; aclosure member connected to the body for movement between open andclosed positions; latch means supported by the body for movement betweena first position to hold the closure member in the closed position, anda second position to allow the closure member to move from the closedposition to the open position; an elongated, flexible shackle lineincluding a first longitudinal end having first and second sections; thebody including means connecting said first and second sections to thebody and holding the first and second sections apart to form an endopening in the shackle line, said end opening being located in the body;a release line having a first end connected to the latch means, andextending therefrom through the end opening in the shackle line andlongitudinally through the shackle line; and a handle connected to asecond end of the release line to pull the release line along theshackle line to thereby move said latch means from the first position tothe second position.
 2. A combination according to claim 1, wherein:theclosure member defines a latching recess; the latch means include(i) adetent supported by the body for movement into and out of said latchingrecess, and (ii) a spring connected to the detent and biasing the detentinto the latching recess; and the release line is connected to thedetent to pull the detent out of the latching recess.
 3. A combinationaccording to claim 2, wherein:the detent includes a flanged head to pullthe detent from the latching recess independent of the release line; andthe body defines an opening providing access to the flanged head fromoutside the body.
 4. A combination according to claim 1, wherein therelease line includes:an elongated tubular member enclosed within theshackle line; and a cable extending through the elongated tubular memberand supported for longitudinal sliding movement relative thereto.
 5. Acombination according to claim 4, wherein the shackle line includes:awebbing forming a longitudinal passageway; and a support hose located inthe longitudinal passageway and housing the elongated tubular member toinhibit kinking thereof.
 6. A combination according to claim 1, whereinthe shackle line includes:a rope forming a longitudinally extendingpassageway; and a flexible guidance tube located in the passageway andguiding the release line therethrough.
 7. A combination according toclaim 1, wherein:the first and second sections of the shackle line areconnected together and form a loop; the means connecting the first andsecond sections to the body include surfaces defining a cavity in thebody; and the loop is located at least partially in said cavity.
 8. Acombination according to claim 7, wherein the surfaces defining thecavity hold the loop away from the latch means.
 9. A combinationaccording to claim 1, wherein the means connecting the first and secondsections to the body includes first and second means respectivelyconnecting the first and second sections to the body.
 10. A combinationaccording to claim 9, wherein:the shackle line defines a longitudinalpassageway extending through the shackle line from the end openingtherein; the release line extends through said longitudinal passageway;and the shackle line includes means held in the longitudinal passagewayto guide the release line therethrough.
 11. A combination shackle andline comprising:a body; a closure member connected to the body formovement between open and closed positions; latch means supported by thebody for movement between a first position to hold the closure member inthe closed position, and a second position allowing the closure memberto move from the closed position to the open position; an elongated,flexible shackle line having a first longitudinal end connected to thebody; a release line having a first end connected to the latch means,and extending therefrom along the shackle line; a handle connected to asecond end of the release line to pull the release line along theshackle line to move said latch means from the first to the secondpositions, the handle being supported for longitudinal movement relativeto the shackle line to allow the shackle line to stretch withoutengaging the handle; and a pouch connected to a second end of theshackle line, and being adjustable between a closed position wherein thehandle is housed within the pouch, and an open position wherein thepouch defines an opening providing access to the handle from outside thepouch.